Le jour secondaire, Lundi 30, Juin 2008

La brassiere, Un Jour a Paris

A word

*With a word, I will share the little details of the day.

Though the day should have begun a little earlier, after an 8:00 a.m. departure from the homestay, the 45 minute commute, and only getting slightly lost on the way, we made it with 5 minutes to spare before our examination.  The test was very difficult but I did my best and will find out tomorrow morning what level class I am to be placed.  The only comment I will make about the exam is that there was an entire row of students behind me who arrived late and talked for the test's entirety.  It had been a long time since I had been in a testing situation such as this.  And, well, with the abiding fatigue and test anxiety, I got seriously annoyed with these folk.  It was one of those moments that revealed to me the reasons for a peaceful and quiet classroom during tests and writing, etc.  I actually felt moved to ask forgiveness of all my former students who suffered through a test's taking when I was not on top of classroom management.  Please forgive me.  

After the tests, there was a short time to introduce the school faculty/staff as well as the students and their varied national backgrounds.  In this group, I am the sole American.  Again, another way in which God is stretching me beyond my comfort zone.  After just two days and appreciating so much what I do see and experience, at the same time, I miss the easy comfort of my living in America.  This feeling, of course, is heightened by the fact that I have not yet begun to study the French language here.  So, I still feel like an awkward tourist fumbling around Paris.  And I do wonder, is comfortable living something with which I have gotten too comfortable?  

After a quick tour of the school and the neighborhood, I spent the free afternoon running errands and attending to my new relationship with the blog.  :)  How bizarre, yet also, how very important to honor the many new, strange, exciting, terrifying, and transformative moments of the time here.  I stopped and ate lunch at a precious brasserie (un cafe) called "Un Jour a Paris."  For very little euros, I dined on the perfect portion of salmon, brioche, salade, and perrier.  At a petit table on the sidewalk of a Parisian street, I dined alone, under the bright noon sun and in the spirit of perfect and expectant life.     

A thought

*With a thought, I share a bit of creative imagining.

A hope

*With a hope, I ask you for your piece of participation in the journey.